Open qualifiers (also known as Wild Card) are the most nerve-wracking way to qualify for any major yoyo contest. High fives to everyone who went through the wringer on this, and congratulations to the top 13 finishers who will advance to the Prelim round, tomorrow at the Athenaeum Theatre!

Takeshi Kamisato partnered up with the folks at Kuma Films for this new video, and it’s stunning! Spin top tricks generally look pretty magical, but seeing them in exquisite slow motion really highlights how stupidly hard it is to hit the tip of a moving spin top with a ridiculously long and floppy string. It’s ridiculous. Hug a spin top player and let ’em know “Hey, listen, I know it’s hard for you but you are doing GREAT and I think it’s all gonna be ok”.

Andy Jones is the best thing to come out of Sheffield since 3/4 of Def Leppard. Congrats to him on being picked up by Smashing YoYos, and congrats to Smashing on gaining a great player! Yoyo used is the Smashing YoYos x Scales Collective Float

Andy Jones is the best thing to come out of Sheffield since 3/4 of Def Leppard. Congrats to him on being picked up by Smashing YoYos, and congrats to Smashing on gaining a great player!

We’ve got your first look at the new YoYofficer Blossom, the signature model for Ryosuke Ito and the first signature model from YoYofficer! Here’s their description:

The YoYofficer Blossom was designed with Ryosuke’s play style in mind, and was named by his wife and his daughter.

Lightweight yet long spinning, this yoyo has a great explosive power and also features a shallower gap than usual to make binds and regens easier even in slow spin situations, a necessity for 3a players.

A thinner string would also make this yoyo incredible for other styles of play like 1a.

Sebastian Brock has teamed up with One Drop YoYos to design and produce his ideal organic shaped yoyo, the Overture! Check out One Drop’s description and full specs below. No word yet on release date or price.

An Overture is an introduction and a start to something great.

We are deeply honored to begin working with U.S. National Champion Sebastian Brock to bring his dream yo-yo into the world: The Overture. Sebby is a legend and has been at the top of the yo-yo competitive scene for more than a decade. He is also an innovative yo-yo artist with a unique style. He brings years of experience and perspective so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build his yo-yo.

We are also excited to have Max Naff in the collaboration to bring us the artwork.

The approach to the collaboration was to build the yo-yo that Sebby has had in his mind and heart for a long time: a refinement of the classic organic yo-yo. Sebby’s yo-yoing is noted for plane-pushing and having many layers to the tricks, and as a result he was looking for big (58mm), stable, bead blasted yo-yo with a balanced distribution of weight that is tuned for his style. It feels good to return to a large retro hub that allows for a little extra center weight, a beefy and reliable 16mm axle and lots of style.

Besides being a top competitor, Sebby is well known for creating the The Alternative Freestyle Invitational which generally takes place at the World Yo-Yo Contest. He had the idea to showcase the art of yo-yoing without the pressure of the point system. He did this for the love of yo-yoing and inspiring players are all kinds to showcase their talents and style and hopefully inspire future players.

Sebby hopes the Overture will inspire your play and he says that it “slays with a soul”.

We’ve got video of the winners from the 2018 Korean National YoYo Contest. Looks like a nice bunch of contenders for the upcoming 2018 World YoYo Contest in China…hope to see all of these players in Shanghai!

Congrats to Hunter Feuerstein on officially moving up to the YoYoFactory Contest Team! Check out the full statement from YoYoFactory below. Great job, Hunter!

Hunter Feuerstein graduated SHUTTER CREW and was immediately presented with the opportunity to join the YoYofactory Contest Team. Hunter is the first Graduate to be offered a spot on the Team and we proud to announce he accepted!

Hunter has been a prolific traveller this season making it out to PNWR, NWR and just this weekend he put down his best freestyle to date at MWR taking 2nd place amongst a talented field. If he were a horse we would say he is just coming into form for the big race, the race being USA nationals. We would also say he is quite small for a horse.

To celebrate the 90 year anniversary of the modern yo-yo, our friends at theYoYo Legacy Project are offering a gorgeous set of exotic wood yo-yos that represent the historical milestones of our favorite toy. No dyes, stains, or tints are used; you’re seeing the natural color of sustainable, exotic woods from all over the world. While designed to be a beautiful desktop display piece, all yo-yos are fully functional. The Kickstarter will be running until July 9th, 2018.

In 1928 Pedro Flores, a Filipino immigrant, worked as a bellboy in a downtown Santa Barbara hotel. In his spare time, he hand-carved a small disc toy he called the Yo-Yo. On his breaks he would go out to the sidewalk and show passersby his toy and the unique tricks that could be learned. It captivated those who saw it! Americans loved the simple toy and Pedro Flores did not remain a bellboy for long.

On June 9th, 1928, Flores set up the first American Yo-Yo manufacturing operation in the Granada Building in downtown, Santa Barbara, California. Within two years he was producing 300,000 Yo-Yos a day at a cost of 15 cents to $1.50 each and promoting the first ever Yo-Yo contests throughout the area.

This project is a celebration of Pedro Flores and the 90th Anniversary of the Yo-Yo in America. It is also a tribute to my childhood love of the Yo-Yo and my lifelong passion for beautiful wood. How better to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of this wonderful toy than to create functional, desktop art with five historically significant Yo-Yos turned out of exquisite, exotic woods.

Backers have the option of quite a few cool rewards, including a reprint of the 1928 Flores trick booklet, a full set of the yoyos with a desk stand, and even a trip to their workshop to learn how to make wooden yoyos yourself!